Prevalence of functional pain of the back, the hip and the knee in adolescents. Results of a cross-sectional study

Objective: To determine the prevalence of functional back, hip and knee pain in adolescents. Risk factors which are associated with these complaints also should be detected. Methods: A total of 2368 adolescents were included (1137 male, 1231 female, age 14.5 +/- 0.7 years). The persons were interviewed in a self-reported questionnaire about episodes of back, hip and knee pain, furthermore sociodemographic information, activity in sports and consumption of legal drugs (tobacco and alcoholic beverages). All adolescents were examined by school doctors to determine back, hip and knee pathologies. Results: A total of 62.4% of the adolescents were suffering from musculo-skeletal pain (back 45.4%, hip 6.4% and knee 33.6%). The prevalence of pathological findings was: back 18.0%, hip 2.7% and knee 28.5%. Summarized the prevalence of functional pain was 34.5% for back pain, 5.7% for hip pain and 28.5% for knee pain. There were significantly with functional pain associated factors. Male sex was significantly associated with functional back and hip pain. Knee pain was associated with sports activity. Adolescents who were visiting a high school and adolescents who were smoker had a significant higher prevalence of functional pain. Conclusion: The majority of functional back, hip and knee pain in adolescents must be classified as functional complaints. There is a significant association with female sex, visiting a high school and the consumption of legal drugs.